Match report
And with that, I wish you adieu. It’s been a blast. Bye!
Here’s an Associated Press report on the Atalanta v Valencia game:
Hans Hateboer scored twice as Atalanta beat Valencia 4-1 in the first leg of the Champions League’s round of 16, putting the Italian team on the verge of a quarter-final spot in its first season in the competition.
Roughly a third of the population of the small town of Bergamo was present at Milan’s San Siro stadium to see Hateboer, Josip Ilicic and Remo Freuler score for Atalanta. Substitute Denis Cheryshev scored a consolation goal for Valencia to give the Spanish team a glimmer of hope ahead of the second leg on March 10.
Atalanta were forced into a late change as defender Berat Djimsiti picked up a knock during the warmup and had to be replaced in the starting lineup by Mattia Caldara. The home side started brightly and Alejandro “Papu” Gomez sent a free kick narrowly over before Mario Paali forced a smart stop from Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Doménech.
Atalanta broke the deadlock in the 16th minute when Hateboer slid in at the back post to turn in Gomez’s cross from the left. Robin Gosens hit the side netting shortly afterwards before Valencia got into the match and almost levelled on the half-hour mark following a quickly-taken free kick, but Ferrán Torres’ effort crashed off the right post.
Valencia went close again when Gonçalo Guedes cross-shot flew past Eliaquim Mangala sliding in at the far post. But Atalanta doubled their lead three minutes from the break as Ilicic held off two defenders before firing into the top left corner.
Atalanta dominated from the restart and Freuler extended his side’s lead in the 57th minute, curling a spectacular effort into the top right corner.
The noise in the stadium was ramped up even more five minutes later when Hateboer ran almost half the length of the pitch before shooting past Doménech.
Cheryshev replaced Guedes in the 64th and pulled one back for Valencia two minutes later, drilling a low shot into the bottom corner to give the Spanish side a glimmer of hope.
And one on Manchester City’s comfortable coast against West Ham:
Here’s a report on Leipzig’s easier-than-it-looks victory over Spurs:
Well that didn’t disappoint. Atalanta were excellent, with Josip Ilicic outstanding (though that might just be because he’s so tall) but threats coming from all angles at times. Valencia did threaten as well, hitting the bar and missing a couple of exceptional chances, one of them absolutely giftwrapped, and the margin of defeat is probably a little overharsh. They created enough to know that they have a chance at home in the second leg, but it is a very slim one, and will disappear entirely as soon as Atalanta score.
Final score: Atalanta 4-1 Valencia
90+5 mins: They take it short, pass it back into their own half, and the final whistle sounds. Valencia have a magnificent first-leg victory and a three-goal lead to take to the Mestalla.
90+4 mins: The game will end with an Atalanta corner.
90+1 mins: There will be about four minutes of stoppage time. It starts with Ferran Torres shooting high when well placed, and Atalanta bringing Adrien Tameze on for Pasalic.
88 mins: Toloi suddenly pops up in the penalty area, but his touch just fails to take the ball past the miraculously-recovered Diakhaby, who was the only person between him and a fantastic shooting chance.
85 mins: Atalanta break, with Valencia overcommitted in attack, but the ball through to Zapata isn’t quite right, forcing him to run wide of goal, and then it gets stuck under his feet, and it all comes to nothing.
84 mins: The ball is played up to Zapata, inside the penalty area. Pasilic is just behind him, completely unmarked, but Zapata lacks eyes in the right place to spot him and passes back instead, and the chance is lost.
82 mins: A bit of a delay while Mouctar Diakhaby receives treatment, after being hit in the head by Zapata’s arm. He eventually gets to his feet, but is bleeding from his mouth and seems quite unstable and surely can’t play on.
81 mins: Atalanta’s captain, Bapu Gomez, comes off and Ruslan Malinovskyi comes on.
80 mins: A fine crossfield pass finds Wass running into the penalty area. He blasts the ball across goal where Jose Gaya is just beaten to it.
80 mins: Hateboer loses the ball to Cheryshev, pulls him back and earns the night’s first booking.
79 mins: Valencia continue to push for the second/sixth goal that would blow the tie wide open, or at least slightly ajar, once again. Kondogbia’s shot from 22 yards or so flies over the bar.
75 mins: Duvan Zapata replaces Mattia Caldara, tonight’s unexpected starter, Gasperini deciding that the best way out of the barrage his defence has been under for the last few minutes is to take off a defender and add a forward..
75 mins: Daniel Wass sends in a cross from the right that leads to a few seconds of panic, which ends when Carlos Soler throws himself to the ground. VAR checks for a penalty, and doesn’t find one.
73 mins: Another change for Valencia, to take off Maxi Gomez, who seems to have completely misplaced his shooting boots, and bring on Kevin Gameiro.
70 mins: Another big miss from Valencia! A cross from the right falls for Maxi Gomez, who completely misses his kick! It falls kindly for Cheryshev, who needed to shoot first-time but instead took a few touches, Gollini came out and the shot when it came hit the goalkeeper.
GOAL! Atalanta 4-1 Valencia (Cheryshev, 66 mins)
And they have scored! Palomino totally fluffs an attempt to bring the ball out of defence, strolling forward and then passing it beyond De Roon to Cheryshev, whose low shot from 20 yards zips beyond Gollini!
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65 mins: Valencia have brought Denis Cheryshev on for Guedes. Surely they now need to score tonight to have any chance, and probably more than once.
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64 mins: The goal stands! Ilicic was offside, but presumably he didn’t touch the ball as it rolled past him.
63 mins: VAR is checking that goal, presumably for a possible offside.
GOAL! Atalanta 4-0 Valencia (Hateboer, 63 mins)
And now it’s four! Ilicic distracts two defenders just beyond the halfway line and a pass heading his way instead rolls through to Hateboer, who sprints infield from the right flank and blasts a low shot past Domenech!
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61 mins: What a miss! What a potentially tie-transforming miss! Gollini’s pass towards Gosens on the left is intercepted by Ferran Torres, who runs into the area and squares to an unmarked Maxi Gomez, 10 yards out and with the goal at his absolute mercy, whose first-time shot goes straight into the arms of Gollini! Easier to score, etc.
GOAL! Atalanta 3-0 Valencia (Freuler, 57 mins)
It’s a third for Atalanta! And it’s an absolute cracker from Remo Freuler, who collects the ball beyond the left-hand corner of the area, cuts inside under little pressure and then curls a delicious shot from just beyond the 18-yard line that nestles inside the far post!
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57 mins: In tonight’s other Champions League game, RB Leipzig have just taken a 1-0 lead at Spurs, Werner scoring with a penalty.
55 mins: I am enjoying this game. Valencia find themselves in the delicious (for the neutral) position of being one goal away from a very decent away result, or a goal in the other net away from complete disaster, and it is a tightrope they are very much running up and down. Both sides are still pushing for goals.
52 mins: Now Valencia nearly score! Ferran Torres curls in a low cross from the right, and Soler meets it at the near post but pokes just wide!
50 mins: Nearly a third! Gomez is played into a huge amount of space on the left, and his cross flicks off Diakhaby’s foot and loops across goal, dipping just beyond the far post with a couple of Atalanta players ready to turn it in had it just dropped a little sooner.
47 mins: Atalanta win a corner. It’s headed out to Bapu Gomez, who shimmies a bit and lays off to Ilicic, whose cross looks dangerous, but is eventually cleared.
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46 mins: Peeeeeep! They’re off! Again!
The players are back out. No sign of any substitutions.
The teams have shared possession evenly, and Atalanta lead only 7-6 on shots, but Valencia are yet to have a shot on target, and have therefore not scored. They have had a couple of chances - Ferran Torres hit the bar, and someone could easily have turned Goncalo Guedes’ cross-shot - but they haven’t made them count. It’s interesting that Eliaquim Mangala, the centre-back, was one of the players throwing himself at the Guedes shot, while Jose Luis Palomino, one of Atalanta’s front three, was on the edge of the six-yard box when Hateboer scored the opening goal. These are, in short, two enterprising teams, and this tie is not over yet.
Half time: Atalanta 2-0 Valencia
45+2 mins: It’s all over, at least for now. Atalanta have only had three shots on target, but they’ve certainly made them count (well, two of them).
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there’ll be a minute or so.
45 mins: Valencia push forwards, but their approach play is a little too intricate and eventually a pass hits a defender, and Atalanta can break.
GOAL! Atalanta 2-0 Valencia (Ilicic, 42 mins)
Atalanta double their lead! The ball is curled to Ilicic, 20 yards out and bang central, and he controls it, holds off Soler, touches it forwards and then hits a right-footed shot across goal and into the top corner! Domenech gets his fingers to it, but can’t keep it out!
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40 mins: Ilicic passes the ball through to Bapu Gomez, who sprints 40 yards into the penalty area, shoots over the bar, and is then, quite a lot of effort later, given offside.
37 mins: Now Atalanta have a shot, a tackle sending the ball rolling to De Roon, whose half-volley sends the ball dipping over the bar.
36 mins: Close! The ball is chipped over the defence for Guedes, who runs into the left-hand side of the penalty are and then slams in a vicious low cross-shot that is wide of the far post, but not wide enough that either of his teammates can get a foot to it as they slide in.
35 mins: Atalanta seem strangely shot-shy. They have another decent attack, but nobody’s willing to take a shot and eventually Hateboer crosses badly.
33 mins: This is so far a reasonable game between well-matched teams who have no inclination of overcommitting at this stage of proceedings.
30 mins: Valencia hit the woodwork! Ferran Torres is released by a quick free-kick, and from an acute angle he slams a shot past Gollini and against the meat of the bar!
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28 mins: Atalanta get into a good position, but Ilicic makes another poor decision, choosing not to shoot or pass with his left foot but to cut outside and head for the line. His pull-back doesn’t lead to anything very much.
24 mins: What with Atalanta being the top goalscorers in Italy for a second successive year, this really isn’t the ideal game to be missing both your first-choice centre-backs. Valencia are seeing quite a lot of the ball, but look creakier in defence than they seem threatening in attack.
21 mins: Atalanta threaten again, but Ilicic refuses to shoot when well placed and Gosens then does shoot when poorly placed. Goal kick.
19 mins: Guedes dives in front of Marten de Roon and the linesman buys it, giving Valencia a free-kick from the right flank. Maxi Gomez wins the header, but his effort hits a teammate.
GOAL! Atalanta 1-0 Valencia (Hateboer, 16 mins)
The home side take the lead! Bapu Gomez approaches the penalty are from the left, Ferran Torres backing away and pretty much letting him do as he wants, his cross takes a slight deflection, and Hans Hateboer gets in front of Jose Gaya to prod in from four yards!
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14 mins: Maxi Gomez is cynically brought down by Palomino, wide on the right. Michael Oliver’s cards remain in his pocket for now.
12 mins: Valencia are doing a bit of gentle probing, though the Atalanta rearguard are keeping things under control for now.
8 mins: Incredible miss! Ilicic passes through to Pasalic, Valencia’s defence melts away into nothingness, and from the penalty spot he sidefoots a shot that Domenech anticipates and touches over the bar!
7 mins: Toloi boots a bouncing ball into Guedes, and it flicks off his shin flush into his face. That does look painful, to be fair, and Guedes is evidently pained.
5 mins: Papu Gomez has the shot, but blasts the ball over the bar.
4 mins: Parejo brings down Gomez right on the edge of the penalty area, and the first shot of the night will surely follow from the free kick.
3 mins: There has already been one team change: Mattia Caldara is in the starting XI for Atalanta, replacing Berat Djimsiti, who was injured in the warm-up.
1 min: Peeeeeep! Valencia, in white shirts and the orangest shorts, get the game under way.
They are out, have shaken all the hands and tossed all the coins.
The players are in the tunnel! Football incoming!
I’m all for a bit of security, but it seems extraordinarily mean to hide the Valencia fans up there.
No need for netting around the Valencia fans at the San Siro....but then they’d do well to throw a paper cup anywhere near an Atalanta fan from up there. pic.twitter.com/BbGTE7WJwh
— Matt Slater (@mjshrimper) February 19, 2020
England’s very own Michael Oliver will be wielding the whistle this evening, and by the looks of things is quite happy about it:
Valencia make just the one change to the team that drew 2-2 against Atletico Madrid on Friday: Gabriel Paulista drops out of the squad entirely, suspended for headbutting Ajax’s Dusan Tadic back in the group stage, and Mouctar Diakhaby comes into the defence.
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No Luis Muriel in Atalanta’s starting line-up, which is perhaps not a great surprise as he’s been a substitute more often than not this season, but Duvan Zapata has almost always started when fit. Gasperini did talk at his press conference yesterday about life without him:
With Zapata, we had some great results last year. This year we missed him for a long time and we found alternatives. Sometimes we used Luis Muriel, sometimes we didn’t field a specialised striker. This has enriched us, giving us alternatives. We have always been prolific in the penalty area and this is an asset that we can use in upcoming game.
The teams!
The team sheets are in, and the names upon them are these:
Atalanta: Golloni, Toloi, Palomino, Djimsiti; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Pasalic; Ilicic, Gomez. Subs: Sportiello, Caldara, Tameze, Muriel, Malinovskyi, Castagne, Zapata.
Valencia: Domenech; Wass, Mangala, Diakhaby, Gaya; Ferran Torres, Parejo, Kondogbia, Soler; Goncalo Guedes, Maxi Gomez. Subs: Cillessen, Correia, Costa, Gameiro, Cheryshev, Sobrino, Gutierrez.
Referee: Michael Oliver (England).
🔥 XI INICIAL de nuestro @valenciacf @ChampionsLeague 🌟#AtalantaVCF 🔷🦇 #AmuntValencia pic.twitter.com/Joeffp9R4J
— Valencia CF 🦇💯 (@valenciacf) February 19, 2020
Hello world!
Atalanta, eh? In the Champions League knock-out rounds, of all places. Who’d have thought it? It’s a throwback to the days when the likes of Videoton, Mechelen and Carl Zeiss Jena could get into European finals, days when fans of almost any club, almost any where, could dream of their team one day being Pretty Good Actually. Not like now, when everything’s been ruined by [insert gripe of choice here].
And this might not be the last of it. Atalanta are not only in the Champions League places again this year, they’re the top-scoring side in Serie A by a standard country mile, and in Josip Ilicic and Luis Muriel they have the division’s fourth and sixth highest scorers. In the last couple of months there have been two 5-0 wins and a 7-0 away victory at Torino, and a total between them and their opponents of 35 goals in nine games at nearly four goals per match. Between them and Valencia there has been a total of one goalless draw all season.
In short, a jolly good time is guaranteed for all. Well, not exactly guaranteed, but likely. Probable, let’s go with probable. People are already having a good time. Look, here’s proof:
So, to summarise, welcome! We’re amount to have a tremendous amount of fun. Now, here’s some pre-match reading:
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